Butte semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1886-1890, 1887-08-20
ELECTRIC MOTORS.
Engineer Bean, After lonth1 sf H
vestie stion IN Other Cltt11,
Reoouuouds tho klDctx1e
System
For Cse on tho Street kal3roAdS a
Butte and Vicinity, Which tho
Bennett Brothers Rave
Finally Agreed to
Adopt.

DEER LoDsE. August 1S.-(SpeeiAi Cor
respondence of The Miner. ]-BenDett Bros,
the leading promoters Of the Butte City
street car enterprise, are just in receipt Of
report from Mr.. c. o. Bean, q civil engi'
neer, who for the past two or three months
has, in the interest of the Butte and Ia
coma street car companies Nelson Ben
nett, OF the firm OF Bennett Bros, also
holds a controlling interest in the latter).
been examining the various methods OF
street car locomotion nov in use. He Wis.
tied nearly all the principal cities. both
East and West, making . most thorough
inspection in each case. HIS report is verv
elaborate, and too prolix to be given in
full, and only such portion OF it is given
below as bears upon the situation at
Butte.
HIS INVESTIGATIONS
took him, among other places, to Portland,
Oregon, where he examined the horse car
system; to Appleton, Wis.,. Scranton. Pa.
and Baltimore, Nd. where the electric
roads were examined; to Philadelphia.
where the steam motor question was
looked into at the Bald win Locomotive
Works. aud to st. Louis. Kansas City and
San Francisco, where cable roads are used.
He says q careful examination Of electric
roads c~onvinces him that far sleeper grades
can be ascended with the electric motor
than by any other system except the Ca
BILE. and that steam end horse power are
wholly unsuited to the steep grades. He
says:
ELECTRIC MOTORS
are now successfully running on eight per
cent. grades and carrying such large loads
that l am convinced they will ascend much
sleeper grades-even as high a. a fourteen
per cent. grad il track be kept clean. This
il the steepest grade on any Of the Butte
lines. applying only to 800 feet on the
Walkerville line.) In bad weather it might
BE- necessary to assist them on fourteen
per cent. grades with a ~ OF horses, but
even then it would be cheaper than n
other system. On your roa the electric
car would have q great advantage on horse
in one particular. Such q car as you would
use would carry. when necessary, over
eighty passengers, and travel at q much
It is my opinion that one such car in Butte
vii, easily do as much work as you would
use. One motor will take the
place Of at least fifteen horses
on your line. and will run twenty.four
hours zach day il you wish it. On your
lines
ADVISE THE USE
Of two electric cars for tho present. They
should be sixteen feet long. The two mo-
tors should each be OF at least twenty-five
horse power. These two cars will surely do
all the work on your two lower lines, and I
am confident will also do the work on the
Walkerville. They will travel at the rate
of three miles an hour on fourteen per
cent. grades, and faster OF course as the
grades decrease. On the light grades they
will run twelve or fifteen miles per hour.
The pay OF an operator is the same as that
OF q horse car driver. Any intelligent
young man, or even boy, can learn to run
one in an hour. The cars when necessary
will carry, by crowding, over eighty passen-
gers each, and will run when thus loaded at
the rate OF speed above mentioned. II I re-
member right. about twenty-five hacks are
employed in Butte carrying passengers.
You need have no fear concerning the
profits OF the street railway in Butte"
THE MPA HAS DECIDED
on Mr.. Beans recommendation to adopt
the electric motor and will proceed actively
with the work of construction in accord
ancs with the decision. Invoices have
already been received for 224, 257 pounds
of steel rails. all of " hich is on the way.
This is about 40 per cent. of what will he
received. Their electric plant will have
1OO.horse.power capacity. A telegram
from Van Depoele, whose system is to be
used, states that it will be necessary for
the company to send men East with pro.
files OF the road before orders can be filled.
The company's franchise calls for the COM
pletion OF the depot line September 9th,
but it will be impossii ,le to erect the electric
plant in this limited time. Should the city
authorities enforce the strict letter OF the
street railroad contract, horse. cars will
have to be used temporarily. It will take
until some time in October to complete
the electric plant. G. K. P.